STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford softball player Kayla Bonstrom was named a Capital One Academic All-America Division I Softball second team selection, as announced Friday by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
It is the first Academic All-America honor of Bonstrom’s career. She is the fourth Cardinal player to receive the award in program history, joining Alissa Haber (2010), Missy Penna (2009) and Sarah Beeson (2002).
Bonstrom had a terrific year in the classroom to match her All-American play on the field. Boasting a 3.60 GPA as an international relations major, she was recently selected to the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies to develop a senior thesis with the federal government related to national security. She’s interested in working in national security upon graduation.
The academic accolade adds to an already impressive list of accomplishments accumulated by the junior this season. Bonstrom was named an NFCA Second Team All-American, NFCA All-West Region first team, All-Pac-12 first team and a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention.
Bonstrom became the 16th All-American in Stanford history and the 12th Cardinal player to be selected to either the first or second team. Stanford’s 16 All-Americans have combined for 31 honors all-time.
Bonstrom is the first Stanford player to earn All-America recognition since Jenna Rich (’12) was named to the third team in 2012 and the first Cardinal player to be named to the second team since Ashley Hansen (’12) in 2009.
The national accolade comes after Bonstrom earned All-West Region first team honors at first base – the second all-region award of her career and the first as a member of the first-team. She was a second-team honoree as a freshman in 2013.
Bonstrom was named to the All-Pac-12 first team, claiming the third all-conference honor of her career and second first-team selection.
Bonstrom had a tremendous season and set the Stanford single-season slugging percentage record at .806, becoming the first Cardinal player to break the .800 mark in program history. She finished in the top-11 in multiple single-season categories in Stanford history including: batting average (5th, .439), home runs (T-5th, 13), RBI (T-7th, 54), doubles (11th, 16) and fielding percentage (T-2nd, .997). She was solid defensively, committing just one error in 381 chances.
Bonstrom finished the regular season ranked 41st in the nation in batting average (.439), 24th in on-base percentage (.549) and 39th in slugging percentage (.806). She finished in the top-10 among Pac-12 players in multiple categories, including: on-base percentage (4th, .549), batting average (5th, .439), slugging percentage (5th, .806), doubles (T-5th, 16), hits (T-6th, 68), total bases (T-7th, 125), RBI (10th, 54) and putouts (2nd, 365).